Preview SM071: Shizukumo, Get Suiren!

[Rath]

The wild Shizukumo living on Melemele Island have set off in search of water. But during the journey, one of them meets Suiren and falls in love?!

 

[Neo Blaze]

Summary, credit goes to Dephender for the translation:

The wild Shizukumo living on Melemele Island have set off in search of water. But during the journey, one of them meets Suiren and falls in love?!

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Could this be a new capture for Lana? Would be about time!

 

[BigDocFan]

Interesting summary, really hope that Lana catches Dewpider, about time she catches a second Pokemon

 

[Singaporean]

Interesting summary, really hope that Lana catches Dewpider, about time she catches a second Pokemon

@BigDocFan
Afterward, we all going to expect Sophocles are going to catch Alolan Graveler after the start of Ula Ula Arc if he gonna to do it in episode 69 after encountering the Celesteela.

However, I can say that is very unlikely. Unless is the writer have something to say about it.

 

[KrspaceT]

And so the 'Ash and water-bug theory' is reduced to that Wimpod all those episodes ago.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

A new twist on "water pokemon falls in love" plot. Hope it don't have an Aquaphilia fetish

 

[ii kanji]

With such a good premise, this episode can only disappoint...

 

[radek.tadajewski.7]

I guess we are going to wait a little bit for Ula Ula Arc to happen. As I remember, Lana actually owns an Araquanid in the game so it's possible that this Dewpider will evolve into it in the future.

 

[Rath]

And so the 'Ash and water-bug theory' is reduced to that Wimpod all those episodes ago.

And even that is unlikely since they're probably saving Golisopod for Guzma.

It's honestly most likely that Ash simply won't get a Water type this generation. He didn't get a Grass type last generation after all.

 

[Alola]

I'm sorry, but it just bugs me that nearly every Alolan species seems to be available on Melemele Island in this show. I understand the anime is only a loose adaptation of the games, but it's just getting egregious to me. Akala's Passimian? Akala's Oranguru? Akala's Dewpider? Ula'Ula's Drampa? Akala's Salandit? Akala/Ula'ula's Morelull? Akala/Poni's Bewear? Wimpod, Alolan Exeggutor, Sandygast (Palossand), Pyukumuku, Komala, Dhelmise, etc. It just seems to make all the other islands superfluous aside from being bland tourist spots that feature a volcano, snowy mountain, or altar for legendary Pokemon.

I'm happy that Lana seems to be acquiring a Dewpider in this episode, but I really would have appreciated it more if she acquired it in Brooklet Hill (which I think would be lovely animated), where the species are actually found.

 

[Nicolas721]

It's nice that one of Alola's forgotten mons is having an episode just for itself without being overshadowed by its evolution, but the love plots will always be creepy.

I'm happy that Lana seems to be acquiring a Dewpider in this episode, but I really would have appreciated it more if she acquired it in Brooklet Hill (which I think would be lovely animated), where the species are actually found.

The previous episode apparently takes place on Akala (unless the Blue Flame visits the school, which wouldn't surprise me...) so don't lose your hopes yet.

 

[Fluffy McGerbil Pants]

I mean, to be fair, they don't really visit the other islands outside of class field trips anyway, so there isn't much opportunity for them to catch other Pokemon on the other islands. The stationary setting is probably the reason why so many Pokemon are found on Melemele Island; otherwise, we'd be seeing the same boring Pokemon all the time, and the only times we'd get to see the others would be if they were to travel to the other islands, which wouldn't make any sense because of school. Besides, just because they're found on Melemele doesn't mean they're not found on the other islands at all. The Passimian episode proved that, considering the rival group was from Akala.

Fair enough if you personally prefer the traveling from regions past but I can understand why they're doing this the way they are. And besides, the anime for the most part has never really been that faithful to in-game locations with Pokemon. Like, nobody ever complained about the wild starter Pokemon as far as I know.

The previous episode apparently takes place on Akala (unless the Blue Flame visits the school, which wouldn't surprise me...) so don't lose your hopes yet.

The summary specifically mentions Melemele Island.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I do think this could be a capture for Lana. She does use an Araquanid I believe in the games, so it would make sense that she'd catch a Dewpider.

 

[SammyW27]

I don't know about Lana catching Dewpider. She doesn't do much with Popplio enough as it is...

Look at what's (not) happened with Sophocles and Charjabug.

 

[Jaypom]

I don't know about Lana catching Dewpider. She doesn't do much with Popplio enough as it is...

Look at what's (not) happened with Sophocles and Charjabug.

I think the reason the cast doesn't do much with their Pokemon is because this is not a very battle heavy series. If there were more battles or use for Pokemon other than goofing off then it would seem like they had more character.

 

[Fluffy McGerbil Pants]

I don't know about Lana catching Dewpider. She doesn't do much with Popplio enough as it is...

Look at what's (not) happened with Sophocles and Charjabug.

I think the reason the cast doesn't do much with their Pokemon is because this is not a very battle heavy series. If there were more battles or use for Pokemon other than goofing off then it would seem like they had more character.

And I'll repeat what I said on Serebii.

For Lana in particular, I think her problem is moreso she's hindered by her specialty type. She has one Pokemon, and while Popplio isn't quite another Goldeen or Horsea in that it's completely useless outside of water, it is clearly more useful in an aquatic setting than away from it. Like, consider the fact that it was easily knocked aside by a wild Garbodor in one episode, then put up a decent fight against Totem Wishiwashi in the next. Having one very aquatic Water Pokemon has left Lana not being able to do much outside of aquatic settings (hell, three out of four of her focus episodes have been set in and around the water). That is how Dewpider could help her.

As for not doing enough with Popplio, we may also see something similar to what happened with Kiawe and Turtonator, because honestly, Turtonator was kinda bland and didn't really do much until Kiawe caught Marowak. Marowak acts as another Pokemon for Turtonator to bounce off of. The two kind of have a rivalry going on and act as foils toward each other. Maybe we'll get something similar with Popplio and Dewpider. Maybe we'll start seeing Lana do more because now, she'll own a Pokemon that's a little more useful on land than Popplio is, and Popplio will have more of a personality if it has another Pokemon to bounce off of. I mean, I would think Lana's a bit higher priority than Sophocles is, considering she has both a starter and a Z-Ring.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

As for not doing enough with Popplio, we may also see something similar to what happened with Kiawe and Turtonator, because honestly, Turtonator was kinda bland and didn't really do much until Kiawe caught Marowak. Marowak acts as another Pokemon for Turtonator to bounce off of. The two kind of have a rivalry going on and act as foils toward each other.

Honestly I never interested in that rivalry thing they had, it seems pointless and one-sided to me. I also think that, ever since Marowak's capture, Turtonator is left behind while Marowak is replacing him as Kiawe's main pokemon. I don't want something like that to happen to my favourite Alolan starter.

 

[Fluffy McGerbil Pants]

Honestly I never interested in that rivalry thing they had, it seems pointless and one-sided to me. I also think that, ever since Marowak's capture, Turtonator is left behind while Marowak is replacing him as Kiawe's main pokemon. I don't want something like that to happen to my favourite Alolan starter.

I disagree for the most part. While we do see Marowak often doing activities with Kiawe and playing with the other Pokemon as well, I would attribute that to Marowak being a smaller Pokemon more than anything. We still see Turtonator practicing battling often enough, and it still gets its moments to have fun with Kiawe or the other Pokemon, like in the sledding episode. Fair enough if you personally don't care for their rivalry, but I don't really see it as one-sided at all. The two clearly compete with each other, like when they were eating the curry in SM035.

I highly doubt Dewpider is going to completely replace Popplio in any way, however, simply because Popplio is marketable and a starter while Dewpider is not. Like, the worst I could see is perhaps Popplio getting jealous because Lana starts using/doing more with Dewpider. And that's not a scenario involving Popplio being entirely out of the spotlight.

 

[ii kanji]

Tomioka's been getting busy...:
Deep in a forest on Melemele Island, the time has come for a wild Shizukumo to set off in search of its own water source. Many things befall the Shizukumo on this journey into the wide world... it sees the sea for the first time, it loses a fight to another Shizukumo over a water source, and so on. And during this journey, it has a chance encounter with Suiren and ends up falling in love.

Screenplay 冨岡淳広 (Atsuhiro Tomioka)
Storyboard 尼野浩正 (Hiromasa Amano)
Episode Director 渡辺正彦 (Masahiko Watanabe)
Animation Director 直井由紀 (Yuki Naoi)